software engineer

analyst

data scientist

system engineer

network analyst

National Security Agency

I will start this by saying, treat this as getting your foot in the door, and that's it. You owe a 5 year commitment to this department. If you make to the 5 year mark, you can start to look for jobs within the agency.

Next, you will not be kicking down doors, or serving warrants. Think of yourself as Force Protection, or armed security with police powers. If you are looking for high speed chases and a typical police experience, this is NOT it.

This job is great for kids just of out college. Aside from that, it was pretty abysmal. Supervisors across the board were horrific. Most of the front office was literally dragged there 10+ years ago by another member of the upper echelon management at the time and they've been in the same place since. Creating a sense of stagnancy throughout the department.

With that being said, it should not come as a surprise that the department can't hold anyone longer five years. It's always hemorrhaging at rates that it cannot sustain. There was an apparent feeling that the officers were not appreciated in the slightest. 

The department prided it self on letting officers speak out and let their troubles be known to supervision, but when it comes down to it, they are generally not helpful and nothing gets resolved. It seems the people who often spoke out in defense of the officers always feared for retaliation from the supervision. Thus leading to the point where no one said anything anymore.

There was a time at this department that you were unable to even have your cellphone on your person. You would be written up for being caught with one. In the event that you had an ongoing family matter, Supervision wanted grown adults to ask permission for any exceptions, like you are in middle school asking for a bathroom pass. However, you were only granted permission to keep it zippered up in your bag, and if you were caught on it, you would swiftly be written up.

Unlike most departments, you do not get pay for rank; rank literally means nothing. Speciality Units, you guessed it, they get nothing. FTOs? Again nothing. There is ZERO incentive to do more at this department. 

Promotions are strictly based on a "Time in grade" system. Despite the fact that is a not the way it's supposed to be in the government. I couldn't count how many times during my sit downs with supervisors I was told how great I've been doing and all these great things about me only to be denied. Literally wasn't given a reason, infact I was being complemented on how well I have been performing and was told to "keep doing what you're doing", despite me being denied my promotion.

Lastly, the pay was okay, I would say NSA police are in the middle of the pack in terms of pay in federal policing.

When I was a Co-op student at Fort Meade, I participated in four rotations. Out of the four offices, I only loved the third office (Summer 2016). In fact, I was asked by my managers there to work an extra two weeks or so (might've been a month from what I remember) due to how much we got along. The fourth office (Summer 2017) was alright, but not much work was available to work on and there was an office romance going on with one of my mentors and a co-worker of his (they were already living together, but there was too much PDA going on in the office). The first two offices (Spring and Fall 2015) were terrible due to how abusive the managers were. If a manager disliked you, they would yell at you and admonish you whenever they got the chance. One of the mentors even smacked me on the back of the head after he assumed that I "was smoking weed" (I hardly got any sleep that night due to my commutes being 2.5 hours in the morning and 3.5 hours in the evening). As far as I know, he went unpunished (besides a smack on the wrist) due to the fact that I was a Co-op student.

The other thing that I noticed when working at Fort Meade was that a lot of the office workers held disdain towards contractors. If you were a contractor (or a part-time employee), information important to your work was often withheld from you and you were treated like a 2nd class citizen. Xenophobia is definitely a problem that's rampant at Fort Meade. However, my 3rd office didn't have that problem due to the fact that the leaders there were actually mature human beings that didn't try to backstab you at any point of your career. As such, there are pockets within the vast ocean of Fort Meade that lack the inhumane behavior that usually exists at the facilities.

The only good things I got out of the Co-op program were my experience from the 3rd tour (my manager and co-workers there were AMAZING [I would say the team name, but we can't do names in these reviews due to classification and Indeed's rules]), decent pay for a college student (~$55k annual as a co-op student, would've been $81k if I stayed, I now make $101k 2 years after college), and my security clearance. My current job as a contractor elsewhere is MUCH better (it's a lot like the 3rd tour) and pays a heck of a lot more while still giving me similar benefits and treating me like a human being.

It's advertised as federal police, but do not be mistaken, you are doing security work. The lack of police work was very disappointing, I wish recruiting would have been honest. I have worked in the DoD for 8 years prior, this was not my first job within the government. Supervisors are horrible and lack real leadership skills, which is seen throughout the department, as morale is always struggling. Most supervisory positions and special billets or positions are given (promised) to favorite employees because of nepotism, which runs strong here. 

Co-workers were fun to work with, but you're all in the same boat. We liked to say that we were in prison, and our goal was to do our time and get out. New NSA Police employees have to sign an agreement upon hiring, which means you cannot apply for a job inside the agency until you finish a 5-year obligation. When it came to senior management, we didn't feel that anyone cared about us as individuals. We were just a number filling a post. Some supervisors would purposely drive around to find you doing something against policy, and if you were caught, they would write you up without question. There was a lot of forced overtime due to people calling out or just not enough manpower. If you want to take leave, good luck, it will probably get denied, yet the supervisors can take leave as they please. Non-supervisors seem to always be at war with the supervisors because there is no middle ground. No one cares or acknowledged our struggles or issues, but  expected us to do as they say, not as they do. 

If you enjoy doing security work (not police work), throwing away your morals and beliefs, sucking up to leadership while back stabbing fellow employees to get where you want to go, then you have a chance to progress in this job.  I do not recommend working for this department. There are other federal police jobs out there who have better reputations. Don't let some of these fake reviews with a 5-star rating fool you. This review is from a former officer who worked at this agency, but was unable to fulfill the 5-year obligation. I wish the senior leadership outside of NSA Police would not view the minority as rebellious, disgruntled employees, but note that there is a real problem within that organization that needs to be addressed. I am a person. I have a family to take care of. I am not a number on your roster, and you were a horrible "leader."

NSA is a place where the work you do is involves making the world a safer place.  Is it a bureaucracy?  Yes.  Just like any other large company, it is a complex bureaucracy. What made this place special is the mission and the work you do to contribute to it and the people you work with. Some of the best and brightest the U.S. have to offer work there.  NSA has lots of different jobs and each one comes with its own challenges, both technical and political.  You won't be bored.  If you somehow find yourself in a job that you don't like or feel like you need a new challenge, it's easy to look for a different position, apply and then move.  In fact, it is encouraged to move into different positions, to diversify or expand your skills and background.  The opportunities to learn and contribute are boundless. The best things about NSA are the opportunities to learn, continue your education and contribute to something bigger than yourself.  I'm not going to lie, it's not an easy place to work sometimes. For example, the list of mandatory classes that employees must take is long and seems to be growing over time (a minimum of 12 courses required yearly to be completed). Your life will be investigated and background checked.  Even with those cons, I can't think of better place to work.

I was sold a bill of goods when I joined this agency. My experience included specialized police training. When I interviewed, the sergeant told me I would be a valued resource and I'd become a supervisor and promoted very quickly with my time and experience as a police officer outside of this agency. That was a lie. The police here have no respect or value for officers who have spent time doing actual police work. A quote from a current sergeant was "It doesn't matter what you did, you're here now." Great leadership.

I did my duties, signed up for extra responsibilities, volunteered for over 400 hours of overtime in the last fiscal year because we can't keep people to man posts anymore, I even moved my family for this agency and another lie was told to me. Myself, as well as many other officers have been passed over because we weren't "competitive" enough with the civilian workers.

When you keep someone at an Entry Level grade when they have more time and experience than most of your low level sergeants and half of your command staff, it's a pretty morale and motivation killing thing.

 If I knew half of what I knew before I took this job, I would not have done it. Go anywhere else but this agency. They do not care about their officers and it will never change.

Overall working at the NSA is a mixed bag with some tremendous positives and some horrible negatives. Many of the missions are really cool and you get to work with some insanely intelligent, dedicated, and hardworking colleagues. Some of the tools and programs are cool, albeit cumbersome. Work-life balance is pretty fantastic. NSA also sets you up with a clearance, but working full-time in a SCIF can be a drag.

On the flip side, the bureaucracy was bad when I started in 2009 and exponentially worsened when I left in 2021, what used to take 30 minutes to accomplish now takes well over an hour. The senior management at NSA is a mixed bag--some are great and some are terrible narcissistic people, with lots of toxicity in various offices, which I experienced firsthand at NSA Georgia. Working full-time in a SCIF can be awful too, especially if you experienced hybrid/remote work schedules.

If you're fresh out of college, NSA can be a great start. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it. NSA has some of the worst organizational problems in existence. Granted, it is one of the largest organizations in the world too, but if you can look at a heaping mess and not be bothered by it, then maybe NSA is for you. 

Expect more meetings than average. Some days are full of nothing but meetings with no actual work done. Some days you can't actually do any work because of waiting on dependencies from other teams. Management of just about everything is slow and inefficient. Might as well be NSA's slogan. 

Having said all that, NSA is not very fast paced, is not very high pressure, offers lots of training for just about everything you can imagine, and if you want to explore new projects and new technologies, NSA is great for that. 

Pay is less than average, but if you combine the benefits and training they offer it'll average out. Again, if you're not fresh out of college I wouldn't recommend working at NSA.

A typical day consisted of setting strategic plans and goals for all facets of telecommunication personnel.

Most importantly what I learned is how to coexist work with military, government, contractor and foreign personnel.

The management staff I worked with was great about fostering growth, providing opportunities and, mentoring. 

My colleges were of the highest quality I've ever worked with in my 20 years of DoD employment.  

I cant think of any parts of the job being hard because of the support staff and management ensured I had all the tools to succeed.

The most enjoyable part of the job was the gratitude I received from the employees whom I have helped succeed or gain more knowledge in a desired I area I was able to guide them to. I guess to sum it up, having the ability to give back to the community.

A typical day at work while not deployed usually consists of training new team members, developing briefs and presenting them at various meetings. I manage a team of personnel that all come from very different backgrounds and bring unique ideas to the table. During deployment, it is important to quickly adapt to your team, lead them in a stressful environment and make sure that the missions are accomplished. The most enjoyable part of my job is watching the personnel under me grow and develop and continue a successful career and advancement. The hardest part of my job is the continuous adaptations that are required while working in a high demand and stressful environment. I learn something new everyday from different things about my team to new ways to streamline the processes that we use to acomplish mission goals.

Relative to other government organizations, this agency has a mission with impact.

Has the usual government employee benefits.

Good education benefits when funding is available.

Need to regularly move around to organizations with growing missions, otherwise your career will go nowhere. Of course, if you like what you are doing, you can usually stay where you are at.

The promotion system is still lame.  If you are skills and willing to work, promotions through lower to mid-grades occur.  Getting a grade 13 and beyond is difficult.  This tends to drive quality employee out to contracting firm were you are paid based on your skills (including negotiation expertise).

Frustration can be experienced when it seems management in-fighting seems to become more important than the real mission.

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